SHC issues notices on plea against re-conducting MDCAT

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued notices to the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC), the Ministry of Health and others on a petition against the re-conducting of the Medical & Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT).

Aimal Nizami and others said in their petition that after the announcement of the PMDC, they took the MDCAT 2023 in September for the purpose of admission in different medical and dental colleges of the province.

Their counsel expressed their grievances with regard to withholding the MDCAT results and re-conducting the test on the recommendations of the inquiry committee that was also approved by the provincial cabinet on October 12.

The petitioners said the provincial government had directed the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) to conduct a fresh MDCAT, but the institute already lacked credibility owing to preparing the MDCAT 2022 that had 40 out-of-syllabus questions.

They said that merely on allegation of test papers being leaked, and to accommodate some students, the provincial government is attempting to undo the earlier test without the PMDC’s approval. The DUHS has not been authorised by the PMDC to hold such tests, they added.

The petitioners said they and a large number of other students have obtained good marks and have legitimate expectancy to be given admission in medical colleges.

They said the government did not take any action against the people involved in leaking the MDCAT papers, failed to arrest anyone involved in the incident and not even an FIR of the incident was lodged against anyone.

They requested the court to direct the medical colleges to complete the admission process on the basis of the MDCAT results, and to set aside the health ministry’s decision of re-conducting the MDCAT 2023 because it was issued beyond its power and in violation of the Pakistan Medical Council’s rules.

Some interveners also filed applications saying that all candidates were willing to take the test again, as the inquiry report showed that the test papers had been leaked and sold to students throughout Sindh, so to ensure transparency and get proper results in respect of the successful candidates, the previous test cannot be relied upon.

They said the petition is misconceived and not maintainable for the reason that the petitioners do not have any vested right to seek a declaration as regards their admissions in medical colleges on the basis of merely taking the entry test. The Peshawar High Court had already dismissed the petition in identical circumstances, they added.

The federal and provincial law officers also opposed the petitioners, raising objections against the petition’s maintainability. They said that after the cabinet approved the inquiry report, the September 10 MDCAT results cannot be made the basis for seeking any relief for getting admission in medical colleges.

After the preliminary hearing of the petition and subject to the maintainability of the petition, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi issued notices to the PMDC and other respondents for them to file their comments on November 2.